A total of 20 GCISD students traveled to Orlando for the DECA International Career Development Conference last week. Among them were four students who advanced to the finals of the prestigious event that included over 20,000 high school students from around the world.

Grapevine High School’s Brooke Bingham and Elnora Marshall advanced to finals in Financial Literacy Promotion Plan. Also, Grapevine’s Nathan Gardner and Jake Murdock advanced to finals in FInancial Services Team. Only the top 20 advanced to finals in each category. In addition, Bingham and Marshall finished fourth in the entire competition in their category, making them the first top-10 finishers in GHS history.

“DECA students compete with the best of the best at ICDC.” said Colleyville Heritage DECA advisor Stephanie Neal. “DECA is aligned with 21st Century Skills in the areas of critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity, and innovation. It prepare’s members to be effective leaders in college and careers. The students walk away from ICDC with a new sense of self-esteem and immediately start planning how to better prepare themselves for next year's competitions. ”

“DECA provides invaluable opportunities for students to build relationships, improve themselves through service, career development and leadership, as well as prepares them for life after high school,” said GHS DECA advisor Carolyn Province. “The tangible skills students gain from participating in the Career Development (competitive events) portion of DECA can not be replicated solely in the classroom. These skills include interpersonal communication, writing, problem solving, networking, and marketing oneself.”

DECA is a student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. The High School Division includes 200,000 members in 3,500 schools around the world.